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Katherine von Swartzschild
Katherine von Swartzschild (born Katharina von Swartzschild) is a young German girl, who was the daughter of Baron von Swartzschild. She was very sickly, weak, and fragile as a young human girl and during her childhood, and was told by a surgeon that she was going to die. After this news, her maid, Gudren, fetched the village vampire Klaus and asked him to turn her into a vampire. He did so, though Katherine had no say in the matter, and she became a vampire. Believing she was still sick, her father took her to the Salvatore Boarding House to cheer her up. There she met Stefan Salvatore, the younger human son of Conte di Salvatore, and she fell deeply in love with him. However, she also displayed interest in Stefan's elder human brother, Damon Salvatore. In The Awakening, she said to both of the brothers that the only way to stay in Salvatore Estate was if she chose which Salvatore to marry. She said that she would tell them which one she had chosen for marriage on Sunday in twilight. Katherine first came to Stefan during the night, presumably during lovemaking and she gave him her blood. However, Katherine also gave Damon her blood as well. Both brothers were furious when they found out that Katherine had given both of them blood and not just one of them, displaying Katherine's coy, selfish and childish tendencies. Katherine told both of the brothers that she refused to choose between the two of them, leading the rivalry and competition between the brothers to heat up even more intensely. Katherine believed that if she turned both Stefan and Damon, then she, Stefan and Damon could all live happily ever after together. The brothers refused Katherine's wish and it turned the brothers against each other even more. Katherine became extremely distraught and upset by both Stefan and Damon fighting over her, so Katherine decided to commit "suicide". The next day, Stefan and Damon had found her ashes outside alongside her small lapis lazuli ring, which protected her from the sunlight and her dress, along with a note saying that she was selfish. Damon and Stefan both blamed each other for her death, and ended up fighting each other to death with swords. Stefan and Damon both ended up stabbing each other, and both died. They woke up in their tombs, with their lapis lazuli rings on, having both been transformed into vampires, bounding the Salvatore brothers to each other for all of eternity. History Physical Appearance Physically, Katherine was described to be extremely beautiful and both of the Salvatore brothers greatly admired her beauty and her elegance. Katherine is said to bear a very strong physical resemblance to Elena Gilbert. Katherine has very white skin and a pale, translucent complexion which is soft and said to be smooth and perfect. Katherine has deep blue jewel eyes, which are the color of sapphire, and have been said to strongly resemble a kitten's eyes. Like Elena, Katherine has golden blond hair, which is described to be fair, flaxen and like silk in appearance. While Katherine and Elena both have blond hair, Katherine's tone of hair color is a few shades darker then Elena's (Elena's hair color is a soft pale gold, almost white blonde in color). In terms of hair length, Katherine's hair is extremely long, much longer than Elena's hair. It is thick in abundance and curly or wavy in texture. Katherine's hair is described to be so long that it trails behind her like a train on a wedding dress, spilling and pooling on the floor in a bundle as noticed by Elena in The Fury. On the contrary, Elena's hair is described to be medium long in length, only reaching down to her waist and Elena's hair is thick and silky straight (not wavy/curly like Katherine's). Despite the many similarities in both Katherine and Elena's physical appearance, there are a few slight differences between the two girls. Katherine is more petite in stature (4'10" to 5'), while Elena is quite a bit taller than Katherine by a "good hand span" (she is of average height), according to Stefan, when he makes comparisons between Katherine and Elena. Katherine's eyes are also said to be wider in setting and they are much bluer then Elena's eyes, which have been described to be the color of lapis lazuli (which is a deep, dark blue). Katherine, like Elena, has long eyelashes, but Katherine's eyelashes are more 'silvery' in appearance. Katherine's eyebrows match her eyelashes, as they are also silvery in color, while both Elena's eyebrows and eyelashes are described to be a darker blond. At first, Katherine is described through flashbacks of memory. She finally makes her appearance in The Fury. She looks the same, except for her extra long, golden hair, which has grown past floor-length and now trails behind her. Elena initially mistakes Katherine's extra long hair for a train on her gown (this indicates that vampire's hair does and can in fact grow). Her face is also described (by Elena) simply as looking "wrong" and "distorted," twisted by hunger and mocking. A quote in The Fury describes the same physical resemblance between Katherine and Elena when they first encounter each other: "The figure in the trailing white dress turned from the candle she was lighting, and Elena saw what might have been her own face on its shoulders. But it was a subtly distorted face, pale and beautiful as an ice sculpture, but wrong. It was like the endless reflections of herself Elena had seen in her dream of the hall of mirrors. Twisted and hungry, and mocking" (p. 205, The Fury). Another quote in The Fury continues to describe Katherine's physical resemblance to Elena: "Her voice was light and sweet—silvery, Elena thought. Like her eyelashes. There were silvery lights in her dress when she moved, too. But her hair was gold, almost as pale a gold as Elena's own. Her eyes were like kitten's eyes: round and jewel blue. At her throat, she wore a necklace with a stone of the same vivid color" (p. 205, The Fury). Elena also describes Katherine's hair in The Fury: "She did a little pirouette, and Elena saw that what she had vaguely taken for the train to Katherine's dress was Katherine's hair. It flowed like molten gold down her back to spill over the floor, trailing behind her" (p. 207, The Fury). Because of the strong physical resemblance between Katherine and Elena, Katherine has actually considered that she may be a very distant relative of Elena's, although this was just an assumption on Katherine's part. Her voice has been described as light, sweet, melodic and silvery. In order for her to walk around in the sunlight as a vampire, Katherine wore a protective necklace with a lapis lazuli stone around her neck. She had previously worn a small lapis lazuli ring on her finger, the same ring that Stefan had worn around his neck on a silver chain for many centuries as a memory of her. Personality In the beginning, during the flashbacks in the novels, Katherine, the young and beautiful vampire whom both Salvatore brothers fell in love with, appears to be a sweet, docile, naive, childlike, fragile and an emotionally vulnerable girl but a little bit on the selfish, spoiled, childish and immature side. When the Salvatore brothers first meet Katherine during the Renaissance period, she is a fragile young German noblewoman with a dark secret (her secret being that she is a vampire). Katherine is soft-spoken, innocent, and excessively naïve. When Katherine and Stefan spent time together each and every day, their fathers, Baron von Swartzschild and Giuseppe Salvatore, were greatly pleased with Stefan and Katherine's courtship or relationship and had began discussing the prospects of a possible marriage. Stefan believes that Katherine's father is much too fond of her to force her to marry against her will, thus leaving the choice of a husband to Katherine herself. In spite of her vampirism, she does not appear to understand shadow emotions and the darker side of life and as such, she fails to grasp the deep roots of the conflict between Stefan and Damon. She displays her immaturity and childishness by refusing to choose between the two Salvatore brothers and believes that martyring herself will resolve their difficulties and their rivalry with each other. Katherine was both of the Salvatore brother's maker and she turned both of the Salvatore brothers into vampires by feeding both of them her blood, in an attempt to be happy with both brothers, instead of having to choose between the two of them. However, when this plan backfired and when it didn't work, she staged her "suicide" by going into the sunlight without her 'special ring', leaving behind a pile of ashes along with a note, in one of her dresses under a lemon tree. The two brothers fought to the 'death' because of her death and their loss. Katherine strongly physically resembles Elena Gilbert, which caused both Stefan's and Damon's initial attraction to her, though Stefan later realized that Elena is much more emotionally stronger than Katherine, who Stefan thought was more docile and gentle, as was the standard in Renaissance Italy. However, in the centuries between the Italian Renaissance and the time of when she makes her first appearance in The Fury, Katherine had grown to be quite devious and insane, which is at least partly attributable to the influence of Klaus, her vampire maker. Over a period of time, Katherine had become the complete and total opposite of her old self—evil, crazy, barbaric, inhumane, vicious, cold-blooded, cold-hearted, wicked, murderous, vengeful, jealous, manipulative, malicious and hungry for power and revenge. She boasts about killing tons and tons of both humans and vampires over the past few centuries; displaying her psychopathic and murderous ways, and she has become fiercely hungry for power and revenge. However, despite her complete negative alteration in her characterization, Katherine still displays grief and heartbreak over what happened in the past with her and the both of the Salvatore brothers. She is intensely jealous of Elena and hates both Damon and especially Stefan, for daring to pursue another woman. When Stefan proposes to Elena and gives her the lapis lazuli ring that belonged to Katherine, the latter becomes intensely enraged and jealous, and uses her Power to force Elena's car into the river at Wickery Bridge, drowning her and killing her. She is revealed to be the "Other Power" that is damaging the town of Fells Church. In The Fury, Katherine becomes very antagonistic against Stefan, Damon and Elena. Katherine ties them all up, tortures them, displaying her barbaric nature, and finally reveals herself to the trio, taunting them with the details of her antics in Fell's Church, of which they had all been unaware. Meanwhile, she directs the dogs to attack students leaving the Snow Dance at Elena's high school. Katherine revealed in The Fury, that even though she deeply cared for both of the Salvatore brothers in the past, she had always loved Stefan much more than Damon and had grown a deep, intense obsession with Stefan over the many years, hence one of the main reasons why she was so deeply jealous and antagonistic towards Elena, the girl who Stefan was currently deeply in love with. True Personality After being destroyed, Katherine saw everything that she had done in her life as a human and as a vampire, causing her dementia. Anger was replaced by a much more mature personality, conscious, wise, stable and loyal. Katherine tried to remain loyal to Klaus, but the Old One was blinded by his anger and his pride after being defeated for the first time in his existence. In the end, Katherine is friendly and learns to be more tolerant and accepting of Elena as her sister. Powers and Abilities Katherine became quite a powerful vampire, especially later on by the time of The Fury. Katherine, like all vampires, displayed the standard and basic vampire powers and abilities such as enhanced senses, super-speed and super-strength etc., although she could also have the ability to shape-shift into various different animal forms. Katherine is actually one of the most powerful vampires seen in the series. *'Compulsion:' The supernatural ability to control and manipulate the body, mind, and soul of an animal or person. *'Weather Control': The supernatural ability allows influence meteorological energy patterns, creating rain, wind, hail, lightning, snow, sleet, fog and temperature changes. Katherine had a very stron ability to control the weather, being able to cause dangerous storms with ease. *'Elemental Manipulation:' The supernatural ability to control and manipulate the elements of air, earth, fire, water, lightning, etc. *'Animal Control:' The supernatural ability can handle all kinds of wild animals or domestic. Normally you can only control a species at a time. *'Healing:' The supernatural ability to heal all infections and injuries at an accelerated speed. *'Immortality:' The supernatural ability of eternal life and youth. *'Senses:' The supernatural ability to hear, see, smell, and taste beyond the human limit. *'Shapeshifting:' The supernatural ability to alter and change the physical form of ones self. *'Speed:' The supernatural ability to jump, move and run at superhuman velocity. *'Strength:' The supernatural ability of abnormal strength. *'Illusion:' It is capable of disrupting the reality of one or more things at once. The Illusion is limited, since it uses a short time but because the neutralization of the enemy and does not usually give orders to the victims. *'Telepathy': The supernatural ability can communicate mentally with other vampires without physical contact and long distances. *'Immunity: '''Katherine is, like all vampires, immune to human diseases and toxins. She does not grow old. *'Resurrection': The supernatural ability to return from the dead. In order to return to an Old One need the blood of the descendants. In case the body was destroyed, it is possible that the essence of the Old One occupies one of his/her descendant's body. Weaknesses Katherine is a very powerful vampire, and therefore is more affected by weaknesses than the majority of vampires. *'Uninvited:' A vampire cannot enter a home that have not been invited inside of. *'Running water:' A vampire can not cross above running water but can tunnel beneath it. *'Veil Matter (ghosts and spirits): A vampire can not hurt and defeat a ghost. But ghosts can manifest and send a vampire to a place where you can not do more damage. *'''Wood: Like all vampires, wood is harmful to a vampire and a wooden object through the heart is fatal. *'Beheading:' Beheading is lethal to a vampire. *'Fire': Fire is able to kill Katherine, just like it is lethal to most vampires. *'Sunlight': The sun burns most vampires on contact and can even kill a vampire, Katherine being no exception. Name Originally, Katherine's real name is: Katerina von Swartzschild. However, for unknown reason, Katerina was changed to Katherine, this was during her stay with the Salvatore Family. L. J. Smith created the character with the name Katherine von Swartzschild, but because the versions of the novels in different countries, as the surname Swartzschild doesn't exist in real life, therefore, it causes confusion about its meaning and origin. *'Katherine' is a feminine first name of uncertain origin. It appears to come from the Greek Αικατερινη''meaning "''each of the two", or possibly from καθαρος ''(Katharos) meaning "''pure". There are several famous bearers of this name, including Catherine de' Medici and Catherine the Great from Russia. The name is common in English. *Other spellings and variations of Katherine include Ekaterina, Ekatrinna, Katherin, Katharine, Katharyn, Katharaine, Katharin, Katharyne, Katherin, Katheryn, Katheryne, Katherina, Katherinah, Katherynah, Kathrin, Kathrine, Kathran, Kathreen, Kathren, Kathrene, Kathron, Kathrun, Kathryn, Kathryne, Kathrynn, Kathrynne, Kasen, Kat, Katchen, Karey, Kara, Karen, Kari, Kasia, Katerina, Kathleen, Katrina, Kathy, Kathaan, Kathanne, Kathereen, Katheren, Katherene, Katherenne, Kathyrine, Katlaina, Kataka, Katreeka, Katreen. *''The beginning of Katherine's last name ''"von" '''is a German a preposition which approximately means "of" or "from". * '''Swartzschild is derived from the German words: Swartz and schild, and the meaning "Black sign" or "Black shield". **'Swartz' is derived from the low German word "Schwarze," which means "black," or "swarthy." **'schild' comes from the Middle High German/Middle Dutch word "schilt," meaning "shield." Trivia * In tv series, Katerina Petrova appeared in her place. She is portrayed by Nina Dobrev. * Katherine is the first vampire who got killed due to sun exposure in the novels. In the series it was Isobel Flemming. * Katherine along with Klaus were the only vampires in the novels who drained other vampires for their blood. * Both Katherine in the books and on the show have a strong preference for the younger Salvatore (Stefan). * Katherine tells Elena, Stefan and Damon that she murdered Klaus centuries ago, but in the Dark Reunion he is the antagonist. This demonstrates the power of Klaus and the Old Ones, which can manipulate the minds of "vampires younger" than they. * Katherine was kind, selfish, reserved, but changed when she was found by Klaus and lived with him for years. Now, she changes into an insane, manipulative, cruel, sadistic personality and it is noted by both Elena and Stefan at their first meeting in The Fury. * Initially, Katherine von Swartzschild and Katherine Pierce have a gentle personality and they have a love for their families. But in the books and in the series, their personality is changed by Klaus directly and indirectly. Katherine von Swartzschild´s personality changed after being with Klaus for so long. Katherine Pierce´s personality changed after Klaus killed her family. * Katherine von Swartzschild is unstable (just wants to kill, destroy and shed blood just for fun) in comparison to Katherine Pierce (she has planned her movements, tools and usually has a Plan B in case of failure). * Katherine von Swartzschild is killed by exposure to sunlight and turns into ash, while Elena dies for the same reason but does not become ash. Elena dies for the same reason, but does not turn into ash because she is a newly turned vampire and Katherine is a centuries old vampire. * In the novels, Katherine and Elena are supposedly not related, though Katherine mistakes Elena for being her descendant because of their strong resemblance. However, between the two women, there are a few slight differences. Katherine's hair is a few shades darker than Elena's, and Elena is considered taller than Katherine by "a good handspan." However, the two still look exactly alike apart from their differences. As it turned out, Katherine and Elena shared the same mother, making them half-sisters. * In the series, Elena and Katherine look exactly alike, although Katherine sometimes wears her hair differently from Elena. Also, while Katherine von Swartzschild and Elena Gilbert of the novels are half-sisters, Elena Gilbert is a descendant of Katherine Pierce. * Katherine is the first vampire in the books to die of sunlight exposure. * Katherine is Elena's first kill in the books. * In the third book, The Fury, Katherine confesses to always having loved Stefan much more then Damon. Similarly, in the episode The Return, when confronted by Damon about who she loves more, Katherine admits to Damon that "The truth is I never loved you. It was always Stefan." * Katherine is turned and mentored by Klaus in the books, however in the TV series, Katherine is sought out by Klaus and he wants to kill her as revenge for getting away from him. * In the novels, Katherine has blonde hair and jewel blue eyes, but in the TV series, Katherine has deep-set brown eyes and dark brown hair. * Katherine is the third oldest and most powerful vampire. Sage is the second vampire, Klaus is the first vampire in the novel series. * In The Awakening, when Stefan and Damon attempt to enter Katherine's chamber, Gudren referred to her as "my mistress Katerina" implying that, like in the TV series, her name is Katerina. *In both versions, the character of Katherine born with the name Katerina, but as the story takes place, the name changes to Katherine. *In the books, katherine feeds on vampires blood. In the show she doesnt however she was fed on by Mikael. See also Category:Novel Characters Category:Antagonists Category:Supernatural Category:Vampires Category:Deceased